This invention relates to improvements in engine lubricating systems and more particularly to such systems that ensure good lubrication to engine internal moving parts prior to engine turnover.
Auxiliary pre-start lubricating systems have heretofore been known, illustrative of which are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,102,514 granted to M. C. Clarkson on Dec. 14, 1937, 2,205,812 granted to A. L. Couty on June 25, 1940, 4,094,293 granted to John W. Evans on June 13, 1978, and 4,112,910 granted to Donald W. Percy on Sept. 12, 1978. The proposals of these patents provide for at least partial lubrication of engine moving parts prior to firing of the cylinders. Thus, for example, Couty U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,812 provides for injection of lubricating oil into the cylinders but makes no provision for the other moving engine parts such as the main and connecting rod bearings. Clarkson U.S. Pat. No. 2,102,514 provides for extracting oil from the normal engine reservoir (oil pan) and injecting it under pressure into the engine lubricating galleys through ports specially provided in the engine sidewalls for this purpose. Evans U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,293 provides a complex mechanism for pressurizing oil in a reservoir and injecting it into the normal engine lubricating galleys prior to engine start; and Percy U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,910 purposes use of a spring loaded mechanism for forcing oil into engine galley before the engine can be started.
While each of the foregoing patents at least partly addresses the need to provide pre-start engine lubrication, they either do not provide complete pre-start lubrication (as in case of Couty U.S. Pat. No. 2,205,812) or they accomplish the lubrication by mechanisms that require modification of existing engine designs. Moreover, some of these proposals appear complex and costly to manufacture. Accordingly, a need has continued to find a simple and inexpensive way to accomplish satisfactory pre-start oiling while at the same time being adapted for attachment to existing engines without requiring changes to the engine itself.